Alberta’s Auditor-General has completed six performance audits of the United Conservative Party Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Legislature’s Public Accounts Committee, dominated by UCP MLAs, has refused to receive Doug Wylie’s reports – so the committee will never do its job of reviewing his recommendations and calling on the affected departments to see if they’re responding.
That manoeuvre by the committee’s Conservative MLAs was predictable, I suppose. After all, by all accounts, management of the COVID-19 pandemic by the government of Premier Jason Kenney is almost universally perceived as having been something less than stellar.
So it would be better for all concerned, the government appears to have concluded, if there was nothing at all to see there. Just move along, folks, please …
When Mr. Wylie attended a meeting of the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts yesterday and told members he had some reports on the topic that deserved their attention, he suggested he’d be happy to bring the reports back with him when they meet on June 21.
About then, though, Mr. Kenney may well be telling us that we’re all about to experience our best summer ever – and this time he really means it – so someone in the UCP’s strategic brain trust obviously decided that might not be an ideal moment to be publicly discussing the failings of the UCP’s pandemic response.
At any rate, when NDP committee member Marlin Schmidt moved that the auditor general’s request be granted, the UCP majority on the committee quickly shut down the idea.
Every single UCP member of the committee voted no: Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville; Jackie Lovely, Camrose; Roger Reid, Livingstone-Macleod; Garth Roswell, Vermillion-Lloydminster-Wainwright; Peter Singh, Calgary-East; Devinder Toor, Calgary-Falconridge; Searle Turton, Spruce Grove-Stony Plain; and Jordon Walker, Sherwood Park. Mr. Reid is the co-chair of the committee, which by tradition is chaired by a member of the Opposition – Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips.
“Denying the auditor’s request to present his work, and effectively banning him from testifying on his COVID-19 audits, is an unprecedented attempt to hide the truth from Albertans,” the NDP tweeted soon after the decision was made.
Alberta has had an auditor general to ensure government departments were properly doing their jobs managing the public’s money since the place became a province in 1905.
But the independent Office of the Auditor General was set up by Peter Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative government in 1978 on the reasonable theory that such information should be made to all members of the Legislature, not merely the government, so that it could get a proper airing to serve the public good, not merely the agenda of the government of the day.
Perhaps Mr. Lougheed had an inkling that someday Alberta might have a premier like Mr. Kenney.
Mr. Wylie, the province’s 11th auditor general since 1905, was appointed in 2018.
The Office of the Auditor General says on its website that “we audit so that we can report on how well the government is managing its responsibilities and the province’s resources. We provide independent assurance to the people of Alberta that public money is spent properly and provides value.”
Well, that was then. This is now. How public money was spent on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic will have to remain locked in a file cabinet somewhere, a secret from the prying eyes of nosey citizens.
According to a statement sent to media by Mr. Schmidt after the committee had shut down his motion, Mr. Wylie intended to put the government’s response to COVID outbreaks in long-term care and handling of federal pandemic funds under the microscope, as well its approach to dealing with opioid poisoning crisis.
No one on the government side of the House appears to have had anything to say about this.
“For the UCP to block him from presenting his findings is deeply troubling,” added Mr. Schmidt, the MLA for Edmonton-Goldbar. “Albertans can’t trust the UCP when they continue to attack the basic mechanisms of accountability in a democratic government.”
Well, Mr. Wylie still has the option of releasing his audits and even holding a news conference to talk about them if he wants to. One only hopes he will.
CORRECTION: Incorrect information about the ability of the auditor general to release his findings was published in an earlier version of this story. AlbertaPolitics.ca regrets the error. DJC
I suspect that Premier Crying & Screaming Midget’s next move will be to abolish the Office of the Auditor General and turn the matter over to another independent review as a, of course, cost cutting measure. And, of course, that review will be done by some Harpo appointee/partisan hack who will, either, see nothing wrong or delay the release of the audit until … forever.
Where else can this go?
There are lots of examples found over the history of assorted totalitarian regimes throughout history. Most recently, in Turkey, a legally required public report of the cost of President Erdoğan’s monstrous and opulent palatial residence was sealed as a state secret. Why? Because the people will crap their pants that Erdoğan build a residence as enormous as his ego. (Estimated cost was $1.2 B, twice original estimates, but likely to go much, much higher.)
Let’s see where Kenney’s ego takes him.
Note the correction published with the story, which may or may not impact your conclusions. DJC
Where Kenney’s assorted antics are concerned, there should be no doubt that he will apply whatever legislative pretzel logic to serve his ends.
This is deeply concerning, and very troubling. Why isn’t the major media outlets mentioning this? Let’s see what happens if someone sues these pretend conservatives and Reformers in the UCP, because one of their loved ones perishes, due to the UCP’s very bad caretaking of the Covid-19 pandemic in Alberta. One of the hallmarks of the Peter Lougheed conservative government, was that it was open, transparent, and favoured democracy. These pretend conservatives and Reformers in the UCP are emulating their hero, a Liberal, turned Reformer, Ralph Klein. They don’t have any regards for who their badly crafted policies harm, and they don’t want any accountability. The UCP have messed up on the Covid-19 pandemic in Alberta, that they are embarrassed to show how their policies made this nightmare happen. Sadly, people fall for the lies of these pretend conservatives and Reformers, and when it’s too late, it’s impossible to undo the major damage.
Note the correction published with the story, which may or may not impact your conclusions. DJC
DAVID CLIMENHAGA: It’s impossible to change my mind on the UCP. They are a very bad government.
I don’t believe I am trying to change your mind, Anonymous. DJC
“Why isn’t the major media outlets mentioning this?”
Anonymous: I wonder the same thing. Why aren’t they? I said the same thing in one of David’s previous articles. I find far more information on blogs such as this, than is reported on the ‘evening news’. It’s worrisome because not everyone is interested or motivated enough to seek out this kind of information. If people don’t know what this government is doing, how can we expect them to be voted out? I fear not enough people know about their shenanigans – and they will be elected again.
There’s always been a certain amount of hubris among the lockdown crowd in the medical establishment and their supporters in their belief they can contain a virus through government action. Viruses have been circulating for millions of years and are part of nature. I maintain one thing the current epidemic has shown that it doesn’t matter who’s in charge and the spread of the dreaded virus has transcended political ideologies but that’s only my opinion.
Having said that can the “burn Kenny at the stake” crowd point to any country or jurisdiction in the world where government-instituted policies have actually stopped the spread of Covid?
Ronmac: Okay, how about Viet Nam, China, Singapore, and New Zealand, not to mention Nova Scotia? None are perfect, however their lock-downs have saved millions of years of life for hundreds of thousands of people.
Similar government lock-downs have saved us all from the first Covid known as “SARS” as well as MERS. There is also a long list of hemorrhagic fevers which government lock-downs have contained, as well as a very long list of zoonotic diseases which have been contained to nature over the past century. Most of which have no vaccines available. I would also point out that TB and small pox were first contained by government lock-downs, testing, tracing, and compulsory quarantines.
Your opinion is based on a very superficial understanding of history and the infantile mind-set of letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. Not useful from a policy perspective, although at this stage of the mess in Alberta and the amount of blood on UCP hands, some retribution along the 1910 Danish law which allows the jailing of Cabinet Ministers for damaging the public interest is in order.
The issue here isn’t whether the government’s (in)actions have contributed to the spread of COVID. The issue is that they have prevent the Auditor General’s Office from doing it’s job which is to provide independent assessment. I, for one, would like to know what happened to the federal wage subsidy money that seemed to go missing here in Alberta.
The existance of viruses in the world doesn’t mean we have to resign and let them have their way with us. Public health measures were successful in ending polio and small pox and Spanish flu. Several jurisdictions have been mostly successful in curbing COVID transmission and reducing deaths. China (though hard to trust their data). New Zealand has a population similar to Alberta and a mere fraction of our cases and deaths (being an island helps). Japan and Hong Kong numbers look good. Mostly, we’ve had a massive failure of governments to implement public health measures consistently and constantly coupled with a huge inequity in vaccine distribution.
Blocking the Auditor General? Where’s the Canadian Taxpayers Federation when you need them?
Note the correction published with the story, which may or may not impact your conclusions. DJC
Thanks for your conscientious amendment, Dave. I’ll change my comment to this:
Refusing to receive, much less act upon, the recommendations of the Auditor General. Where’s the Canadian Taxpayers Federation when you need them? Are they all about accountability?
“Which by tradition is chaired by a member of the Opposition – Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips”
Maybe a mis-type? Shared by a member…
I find it amusing the way modern conservatives all claim to be the best at whatever but actively, and publically, suppress the truth about it.
And people vote for this! GUFFAW
Jason Kenney has been blustering about the “freedom truckers” to cover up a lot of issues this week. It’s so strange that Kenney wants accountability from the federal government, but refuses to look in the mirror at his own reflection, if there is one. Democracy requires accountability at the provincial level, too.
I hope Auditor General Doug Wylie has kept backup copies of his backup copies of this report. We know what happens to truth-tellers who do the job they are paid to do: the Kenney government fires them. What else would we expect from a despotic regime?
Abs: Note the correction published with the story, which may or may not impact your conclusions. DJC
I will be curious to see how the UCP spin doctors respond to this non-disclosure. I suppose they will play up the fact that Mr. Wylie was appointed by the NDP, so his opinion doesn’t matter.
Bob: Note the correction published with the story, which may or may not impact your conclusions. DJC
United in Criminality Party. Too bad for them a CHILD can see they’ve been a hopeless failure on all fronts, let alone COVID-19
“That was predictable, I suppose.” ??? The benefit of any doubt was erased long ago, because past behavior is a fairly good predictor of future behavior. Is that not what we are often told?
Where, “Request for Keystone XL cabinet documents blocked by UCP MLAs”, represents the past, for example. No doubt multiple examples exist. The public cannot expect honesty and transparency; when, the public, in general, is not even honest with themselves about what are and what are not truthful representations of reality. Necessary (PR) illusions and strong (PR) delusions result in the embrace of and believing in lies and falsehoods.
“In that two-minute exchange, nearly everything Alberta’s premier said was false, or would later be proven wrong. He misstated Australia’s vaccination coverage (32 per cent at the time, not 15); and he wrongly asserted that U.K. hospitalizations had stayed flat despite soaring cases (they’d tripled in one month) and that COVID had killed only two Albertans under 30 (the number was 11). He was wrong about bigger things, too. In July, Alberta was still two months away from having 80 per cent of eligible people with a single vaccine dose, and miles from that mark for coverage of the whole population. Spiking infection rates would send hundreds to hospitals, and his pledge that the province was “open for good” didn’t even survive the summer. In mid-September, Kenney reluctantly—and belatedly—reintroduced COVID restrictions and vaccine requirements.”
https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/jason-kenney-is-sinking-how-it-all-went-wrong-for-him/
Unless, of course, it is the trivial case that Jason Kenney is simply misinformed and/or stupid.
“To ensure that Albertans receive the value for money they deserve from our office, we follow a clear process of accountability for results:
Set and communicate measurable results and responsibilities
Plan what needs to be done to achieve results
Do the work and monitor progress
Identify and evaluate results—and provide feedback for continued improvement
Publicly report on the results of our work”
https://www.oag.ab.ca/about/accountability/
The last point states that the public is informed of the results of their work. What is the mechanism by which this is accomplished? Surely it is not left to the “Standing Committee on Public Accounts” to determine how and what information is reported? What precisely is this “clear process of accountability”?
No surprises here. This government, more than most, does not believe in transparency, let alone good governance. All they care about is ruling and doing whatever is necessary to stay in power.
Agreed. They do want to remain in power, but that’s because having the keys to the treasury allows them to steal money for themselves and their friends.
It’s not about power.
It’s about maintaining the ability (power) to steal money. It’s always about the money.
They are NOT ideologues they are common thieves.
Commenters, please note the correction published this morning: Incorrect information about the ability of the auditor general to release his findings was published in an earlier version of this story. AlbertaPolitics.ca regrets the error. The AG does in fact have the ability to publish the report and can do so if he wishes. DJC
All the more reason to abolish the Office and turn everything over to a more favorable (partisan) review.
Pandemic? What pandemic? Everything’s Trudeau’s fault…that is the conclusion of this report. Now, it will be published…in the shredder.
Oh the deer “leider hoser” is about to crack the N_zi ceiling! Tell me Obi Wan! What can we do? Think? Vote? Are you nuts! We aren’t capable of waking up for free pancakes in Calgary, let alone actual citizenship! Prairie oysters R us! Get ’em in happy hour! That’s tomorrow after 5 pm. Come one come all!
So there’s only one song you need right now! https://youtu.be/zSDPDYn6CZU?t=4
Thanks, DJC, for the quick update. Regardless, the actions of the UCP members belie an effort to hide, rather than reveal and to distrust, rather than trust, the electorate.
I think the issue is what metrics could be used? The presumption that non-political metrics could be applied is ridiculous, and as a consequence you get non-sensible comments like this:
“management of the COVID-19 pandemic by the government of Premier Jason Kenney is almost universally perceived as having been something less than stellar”
Yes, universally perceived by you.
And its all the worse that the Kenney government took a middle of the road journey through the pandemic. This gives him the opportunity to be panned from both sides.
And both sides meaning the extremists. So yes, it is universally perceived by extremist view pointed people that they did a bad job.
Not a surprise at all. And yes, I am one of those extremists. I think that the government had a chance during the pandemic to stand up for personal responsibility and they did about as much of that as they could. However they were hampered by the nature of the healthcare system forced upon us by Ottawa and the nanny / union oriented state enshrined the federal politics.
Is there any data available on how many times any AB government has blocked the AG releasing information?
Second, are AG reports subject to FOIP? Could a journalist get their hands on the information that way?
Taking into consideration the rising tide of shenanigans related to the UCP, it looks like the CPC is beginning to show some signs of the same weirdness.
According to its bylaws, the CPC can only hold a leadership review for O’Toole in 2023. For three riding associations, this is far too long to wait. So, they are moving to staff positions on the party’s national council that are in favor of an early leadership review — the earlier, the better. Considering that this obvious act of subterfuge has all the scent of a Kenney-engineered move to oust O’Toole quietly, thus avoiding a very public bloodbath. An open council seat could be filled by a publicly vocal anti-Carbon Tax and pro-climate change denialist candidate, one wonders if an opposing candidate will emerge who will be an O’Toole supporter? Right now, the numbers don’t look good for O’Toole, based on some of the CPC caucus going rogue and pushing O’Toole to support the FreeDUMB Convoy and their *Blitzkrieg* on Ottawa. No doubt they will be playing “der Ritt der Walküren” on their loudspeakers as they enter the most boring city on earth.
As for O’Toole’s dilemma, surprisingly, Skippy Pollivere is polling some impressive numbers. I’m not sure if it’s his monotonic drone or his 1940s “Grapes of Wrath” style of haircut, but he seems to be emerging as something of the wunderkinder/hot boy of the CPC. The funny thing is that Pollivere couldn’t get support for a leadership run the last time, but now he appears to be in a position to take the throne by force.
As for the convoy, it seems that everyone is an organizer and a spokesperson for this protest. It’s come to the point where certain participants are being ostracized by the larger group because they can’t keep their mouths shut about their evangelism, homophobia, Trumpism, racism, and Qanon slanted beliefs. interestingly, the person who is managing the Convoy’s “logistics” doesn’t seem to know how many participants there are, where the Convoy is actually going, and what they intend to do when they get to wherever they are going, or how long they intend to be there. “Who’s in charge here?” seems to be a relevant question for this bunch.
Well, the CONs have the Cumming Report on the 2021 election and it’s pretty all damning.
O’Toole was “overmanaged” and perceived as being “inauthentic”.
But O’Toole was himself not faulted for his disastrous performance. He’s just great!
The report did make it clear that the CPC has not made any inroads into Canada’s more diverse ethnic voter populations, failing to score any headway against the Liberal’s more diverse and multi-cultural campaign emphasis.
In other words, the mistrust of new Canadians that began with Harpo’s Wonderbread approach to governance and campaigning has done enormous damage to the CON brand.
The CON caucus is overwhelmingly and troublingly white…white-focused, white-concerned, white-fixated.
If the CONs do not correct these issues, they will remain a rural rump, stuck in Western Canada, and irrelevant in the better, more civilized, more diverse regions of Canada.
But we can expect the Alberta caucus to say it was the PPC that stole their thunder and they want it back.
Maxime Bernier was the leader the CPC really wanted, and he the leader they still want.
You do know there is a moratorium on bad news until after Kenney’s leadership review. I’m not sure if it that be completely successful, but that partly explains the UCP MLA’s desire to bury this. They are just looking after the best interests of their supposed boss, like the loyal peons they are. However, I suspect they have forgotten who they are really accountable to, so perhaps they may get what they deserve in the next election. If I was a candidate running against any of these UCP MLA’s I would not forget about this and bring it up every chance I could in the next election. There can be a price to be paid for misplaced loyalty.
I suspect the UCP also prefers that the Auditor General’s findings never see the light of day, because they are embarrassing to them. However, the greater damage is not the embarrassment to Kenney and the UCP, but that the public does not get to know what the problems and issues were. Accountability and public pressure are a way to ensure that governments learn from their mistakes and do better.
Of course, this assumes they want to learn and do better. Kenney and his crew seem quite smug, self assured and stubborn, so perhaps accountability and public pressure would change nothing in how they deal with things. However, this information might be useful for the people who administer and run the government’s day to day operations and other parties who voters might replace the UCP with. Unfortunately at this point, all there is here is darkness. It is a black hole of information going in and nothing coming out. Why bother then with having a auditor general prepare a report at all, if it just gets politically buried?
From the AG site
“Comments, questions, concerns?
Information provided by Albertans is one of several factors we consider in choosing our performance audits.
Send an email to [email protected] or give us a call at 780.427.4222.
We treat all information confidentially.”
Can we all petition for publication or individually request a copy?
If the UCP wanted to be honest with the people, today would be a great day to release the report.
If Premier Kenney wants to hide behind ‘abuse of power, abuse of office, abuse of authority, blatant abuse of the people, then he’ll face the consequences in 2023. Give him the BOOT! Reckless endangerment of public safety is a criminal offence. Enough is enough.
I think BC might have seniority on this account: its Auditor General endured bamboozelment for the entire 16-year BC Liberal regime—that is, having to condemn but accept, anyway, “unacceptable accounting principles” the government used to raze-dazzle citizens, partly to maintain their electoral support, and of course to get away with its primary objective of beggaring the public enterprise with such unacceptable budgeting tactics as ‘deferred debt-stashing’ in Crown Corps like BC Hydro (many tens of billions of dollars) in order to balance annual budgets (to achieve the first objective) and bankrupt public enterprises like BC Hydro, BC Ferries, and the Insurance Corp of BC.
All suffered egregious abuse in this way and British Columbians will be paying for it for generations, the accumulated public debt by the time the BC Liberals were toppled in 2017 being—if the fiscal records can be forensically deciphered successfully—somewhere north of $110 billion. (In perspective, the preceding NDP government of the “Dark Age 90s”—as BC Liberals called it before, during and, still, to this day—left Gordon Campbell’s new BC Liberal government a public debt about a quarter the size.)
In retrospect, the claimed geniuses of public financing were total charlatans. Scratch a liar, find a thief.
Don’t let this happen to you, my Alberta friends!